Positives: Good height and an athletic frame. Good initial quickness off the snap. Better football player than overall athlete. Does a lot of the little things well. Reliable route-runner. Lacks elite burst out of his snaps, but runs them with precision. Good body lean and utilizes head fakes and varying speeds to help generate separation. Good hands. Tough. Will take a big hit and hang on to the ball. Good downfield blocker. Stalks defenders at the second level and can supply a big hit. Experienced special teams player.

Negatives: Lacks the eye-popping athleticism to offer much upside. Doesn’t have the straight-line speed to challenge over the top. Lacks burst out of his breaks. Generally reliable hands, but has some ugly drops when he’s trying to make a move on the defender before securing the pass.

Hartline plays with the competitive edge and displays the toughness to go over the middle. He also shows good body control when catching the ball. However, we have some concerns with his fluidity changing directions and overall consistency with hands because he has a history of dropping balls he should catch.

Oh goody. A white Derek Hagen. It was said Hagen had problems with holding onto the football when Miami drafted him in the 3rd round in 2006.

Mel Kiper sees Hartline as a Special Teams player and 4th Wide Receiver. He’s higher on this selection than Miami’s pick of Patrick Turner.

In light of three of the last four picks they made, I expect Miami to either draft a Basset Hound, A Two-headed Martian lesbian, or Some goldfish with their next picks. The Dolphin 2009 NFL Draft is a psychoanalyst’s dream.

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